Die G[ddot{o}]ttin I[check{s}]hara: Ein Beitrag zur altorientalischen Religions-geschichte & Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel and the Old Testament.

• Author: M. ROBERTS, J. J.
• Position: Review

Die Gottin Ishara: Ein Beitrag zur altorientalischen Religions-geschichte. By DORIS PRECHE. Abhanlungen zur Literatur Alt-Syrien-Palastinas und Mesopotamiens, vol. 11. Munster: UGARIT-VERLAG, 1996. Pp. xii + 248. DM 102.

Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel and the Old Testament. By TILDE BINGER. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Series, no. 232; Copenhagen International Seminar, vol. 2. Sheffield: SHEFFIELD ACADEMIC PRESS, 1997. Pp. 190. 35 [pounds sterling], $57.50.

The volume by Doris Prechel presents a very thorough and sober analysis of the material presently available for a study of the goddess Ishara. After a brief introduction, Prechel begins with a synchronic presentation of the evidence for Ishara at different sites in the various historical periods where Ishara is attested. Prechel arranges this discussion under six main periods from Pre-Sargonic to Neo-Assyrian. Following this extended survey of the evidence, there is a much shorter diachronic treatment of the goddess in which Prechel discusses suggested etymologies for the name Ishara, Ishara's place in the godlists, the geographical and temporal extent of her worship, local manifestations of the goddess, and cult functionaries associated with her. The book concludes with a helpful summarizing chapter on the essence and cult of the goddess Ishara. There are also useful appendices, including editions and translations of the Autumn and Spring Festival in her honor in Kizzuwatna (Hittite) and the kissu-Festival for her and NIN.URTA at Emar (Emar Akkadian).

According to Prechel, the distinctive epithets of Ishara stress her functions as a goddess of the oath, the oracle, and the extispicy. She is also assigned the task of insuring human offspring. In astrological texts Ishara, identified with the constellation Scorpion, is clearly distinguished from Istar, who is regularly identified with Venus. Two symbols of Ishara are known: the snake (Old Babylonian) and the scorpion (Middle Babylonian). She belongs to the Enlil circle and in some texts is clearly identified as an underworld deity, but in the absence of any significant mythological texts about her, it is hard to be more specific about her family connections. These conclusions are convincing, even if modest and not particularly surprising, because they are based on a very careful and meticulous treatment of the sources.

The same cannot be said about the work by Tilde Binger. She begins her work with three...